Muted said:
I am looking at buying my first road bike, and have been offered a used bike by a co-worker/friend of mine, but I would like to know from those with experience what the bike is worth.
Here is what I know:
*Douglas Al frame with Carbon seat stays, Carbon fork (reynolds), Carbon seat post.
*All components are Shimano Ultegra (9-speed)
*Well maintained by an amatuer racer/cyclist (from what I have seen he is a perfectionist with all his bike maintainence/upkeep)
I did take it for a spin and everything felt good, and sizing was about right for me.
Thanks in advance from a newb trying to get into the sport.
Well, "about right" is really a vague statement, and should be looked at as the starting point for determining how much you should offer your friend -- immediately, I would discount the value by $200 from the optimum USED price.
First, the bike is a few seasons old ... when he bought it, he probably paid between $1400 & $1800 depending on whether he bought it new (a year EARLIER) or when Colorado Cyclist was discontinuing carrying the model ...
For $1400, you could buy a pretty nice, NEW bike ... in fact, for $1000, I think you could get a NEW bike with 10-speed Ultegra components (web/mail order) ... so, that has to be thought of as the ABSOLUTE high end of what you should consider paying (but, keep reading!).
Without looking, I'm pretty sure that there are new,
comparable bikes which will probably cost you about $800 on eBay.
Sight unseen (the bike probably has 10,000-to-15,000+ miles on it if he used it for training AND racing -- that mileage is near/past the end of the life of the components), the bottom line is that on the low side, I'd suggest that you offer your friend no more $500 (maybe, less) ... so, $800 on the high end would be really, REALLY GENEROUS on your part UNLESS he only used it for the races & logged less than 2,000 miles on it.
Ask how many miles the bike & components have seen ... and, hope he is candid.
The HARD REALITY is that a used bike generally loses its value very rapidly until the time when it achieves VINTAGE (generally, only if RARE) status ... and then, it may recoup close to the original price ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, but that rarely happens.